A Changed Sunday Routine

Besides Don's no longer going out on Sunday morning to play golf with Gordon (they've switched to Mondays), the Sunday morning routine has been further altered by the Post Office newsagents taking the decision to no longer open on Sundays as of July. Now the only place in Comrie to get the Sunday paper is the Cost Cutter. This shop would be the result if you crossed a 7-11 Store with an IGA Store in the States: less than a full-sized grocery store, even a small one, but more than a convenience store. When we first started coming to Comrie over 10 years ago, it was The Spar but was later bought out by Cost Cutter. Like a convenience store, Cost Cutter is open on Sundays and a bit later each day. Still, it's nothing like the hours a store like that would keep in the States. (In other words you'd better know before 8 pm whether you'll be needing milk for your morning tea the next day.)

The view in the photo is from just beyond the main square in the middle of the village looking east toward Crieff. What you can't see is from the square to the Cost Cutter where there are an estate agent, The Fruit Shop (greengrocer), the Comrie Butcher, Courtenay's Hardware Store, and Hamish Reid's garage and service station. Going down the left side of the road from the Cost Cutter is the chemist's, MacIntyres hair salon (where Don goes), The Fabric Shop that specialises in decorating fabrics, a framing and art shop, an antique books dealer (open when the owner feels like being open), and Comrie's part-time library (open Monday-Saturday a couple of hours each day on a staggered basis). Down at the far end of the road on that side is the Earnbank Hotel. Across the road is Thomson's The Delicatessen, The Tartan Museum and Shop, The Granary Tearoom and Gift Shop, Frizz (the hairdresser I go to), the new Shaky Toon Bakery, an estate agent (realtor), and our bank. Other buildings along this road and above the shops are dwellings (flats and cottages).

Another change today is that the first half of the day was sunny and warm. The high was supposed to be in the low 70s and by Thursday, it was to get up to 89! Now today's predicted high is 69 and Thursday's is 82. We've had rain showers and thunder storms from about 1 o'clock this afternoon. In between showers, Don has finished building and erecting the garden arch. It looks beautiful. (Photo tomorrow perhaps although heavy rain is predicted for tomorrow as well.)

Yesterday afternoon we watched World Cup football, the match between England and Portugal. What a heart-breaking finish that was! Then we switched over to Wimbledon coverage to see Andy Murray, from nearby Dunblane, win his match. Talk about the ups and downs of sports. We hit the highs and lows in just one afternoon! Fortunately, we ended on a high note.